"Trip the pert Fairies.--
And,
"Revels the spruce jocund Spring.
_Comus._
III. The third thing to be consider'd, is, _The adapting the Sound to
the Sense_.
Who does not hear the Warbling of a _Brook_, the Rustling of _Wings_,
the rough Sound of _Trumpets_ and _Clarions_, and the soft one of
_Flutes_ and _Recorders_ in the following Lines?
"Fountains, and ye that warble as ye flow
Melodious Murmur warbling, tune his Praise.
Again,
"--But Chief the spacious Hall
Thick swarm'd, both on the Ground and in the Air,
_Brush'd with the Hiss of rustling Wings_.
Again,
"Then strait commands, that at the warlike Sound
Of _Trumpets_ loud and _Clarions_, be uprear'd
His mighty Standard.--
Again,
"--Nor with less Dread, the loud
Ethereal Trumpet from on High _'gan blow_.
Again,
"--Thus they
Breathing united Force with fixed Thought
Mov'd on _in Silence to soft Pipes_.
Who does not see Porpoises and Dolphins tumbling about in the Ocean
when he reads this Line?
"--On smooth the Seal,
And bended Dolphins play: part huge of Bulk,
Wallowing unwieldy, enormous in their Gate,
Tempest the Ocean.--
How variously the Rivers run in these Verses?
"--So the watry Throng
Wave rowling after Wave, where way they found,
If steep, with Torrent rapture, if through plain
Soft Ebbing.--
How is the Verse extended where the Whale lies at length upon the
Ocean!
"--There Leviathan
Hugest of living Creatures, on the Deep
Stretch'd like a Promontory sleeps.--
How does the Line labour when the Elephant is working himself through
the stiff Clay, whilst the lesser Animals sprout up as it were in an
Instant!
"--Scarce thro' his Mould
_Behemoth_, biggest born of Earth, upheav'd
His Vastness.--
And,
"--Fleec'd the Flocks and bleating, rose
As Plants.--
But I shall have occasion to take notice of this Subject hereafter.
IV. The fourth thing to be enquir'd into is, _The mixing of singular
and plural Numbers_, in which _Milton_ excels.
"--Flowers were the Couch
Pansies, and Violets, and _Asphodel_,
And _Hyacinth_, Earth's freshest softest Lap.
Again,
"--Through many a dark and dreary Vale
They pass'd, and many a Region dolorous,
O'er many a frozen, many a fiery Alp,
Rocks, Caves, Lakes, Fens, Bogs, Dens, and
Shades of Death.
Again,
"Sporting the _Lion_ ramp'd, and in his Paw
Dandled the _Kid_; Bears, Tigers, Ounces, Pards,
Gambol'd before them.--
Again,
"--Sweet Interchange
Of Hill and Valley, Rivers, Woods and Plains,
Now Land, now Sea, and Shores with Forest crown'd
Rocks, Dens and Caves.
Again,
"The glittering Guard he pass'd, and now is come
Into the blissful Field, thro' Groves of Myrrh,
And flow'ry Odours, _Cassia_, _Nard_, and _Balm_.
V. As to the fifth Remark upon _Virgil_, which relates to his using
the Particles _Que_ and _Et_ in his Verse, there can be nothing of
that nature in _Milton_. So that I proceed to
VI. The sixth thing to be observed, which is, _The Collocatio
Verborum_.
_Milton_ often places the Adjective after the Substantive, which very
much raises the Stile.
"Strait he commands that at the warlike Sound
Of Trumpets _loud_, and Clarions, be uprear'd
His mighty Standard. That proud Honour claim'd
_Azazel_, as his Right; a Cherub _tall_.--
Again,
"Thy Goodness beyond Thought and Pow'r _Divine_.--
And again,
"Then from the Mountain hewing Timber _tall_.
But the utmost of his Art in this respect consists in his removing the
Adjective, the Substantive, and even the Verb, from the Line or Verse
in which the Sense is previously contained, and the grammatical
Construction inverted, to the Beginning of the next Line. This has a
wonderful Effect; especially when the Word is a Monosyllable.
"Here finish'd he, and all that he had made
_View'd_--and behold all was entirely good.
Again,
"Over their Heads triumphant Death his Dart
_Shook_--But refus'd to strike.
This artful Collocation commands the Attention, and makes the Reader
feel and see what is offer'd to him.
That this Effect is owing to the Collocation will appear by
considering any one of the Instances now produc'd. For Example:
"Over their Heads triumphant Death his Dart
_Shook_.--
This Passage makes the Reader see Death with his Dart in his Hand,
making it over the Heads of the unhappy Creatures describ'd in the
_Lazar-house_, as plainly as if the whole was painted upon Canvas. But
let this Line be alter'd thus:
"Over their Heads Death shook his dreadful Dart.
How much of the Fire and Spirit of this Passage is lost, will be
easily perceiv'd.
I was long of Opinion that _Milton_ had invented this Art himself, for
I knew he had it not from _Virgil_: The _Latin_ Language is hardly
capable of it. But by Accident I found _Milton_ learn'd it from
_Homer_, though it is plain what is _Art_ in the former was _Chance_
in the latter; which cannot be disputed when it is considered that in
so many thousand Lines that we have of _Homer_'s, there is I believe
but one single Instance of this Monosyllable Collocation; but in
_Milton_ there are many, both Substantives, Adjectives and Verbs. The
single Instance in _Homer_ is in _Odysse_ 9. in the Story of
_Polyphemus_.
[Greek: Sun de duô marpsas, hôs te phulakas poti gaiê / Kopt']
_Hom._ Odyss. _&c._
"Two of my hapless Friends with all his Pow'r,
Like Dogs, the Monster on the rocky Floor
DASH'D.--
Can any body be insensible of the Power of this Word, _Dash'd_, as it
is here plac'd.
I remember an Instance of this Monosyllable Collocation at the
Beginning of a Line in rhym'd Verse, which is very well worth
inserting here. It is at the Conclusion of Mr. _Pit_'s 4th _Æneid_,
when _Juno_ sends _Iris_ from Heaven in haste to relieve _Dido_ from
the Agonies of Death.
_"Tum Juno Omnipotens, longum miserata dolorem,
Difficilesque obitus, Irim_ Demisit Olympo
_Quæ luctantem animam, nexosque resolveret artus_.
"Then mighty _Juno_ with a melting Eye,
Beheld her dreadful Anguish from the Sky;
And bade fair _Iris_ from the starry Pole,
_Fly_, and enlarge her agonizing Soul.
How is the Verse animated by the placing that Monosyllable, _Fly_, at
the Beginning of the last Line.--The Reader sees all the Concern of
_Juno_, and all the Hurry she is in to get the unhappy Queen released
from the Pangs of Death.
_Milton_ likewise uses his Monosyllables very artfully in placing them
at the Conclusion of a Line, so as to divide the last Foot of the
Verse, which has a very extraordinary Effect.
"Silence, ye troubled Waves, and thou, _Deep_,
Peace.
Again he divides the last Foot by making a Monosyllable the Beginning
of a new Sentence, which is very pleasing.
"--Up flood the Corny Reed
Imbattled in his Plain, the humble Furz
And Bush with frisled Hair implicit. _Last_
Rose as in Dance the stately Trees.
_Milton_ also sometimes places two Monosyllables at the End of the
Line, stopping at the 4th Foot, to adapt the Measure of the Verse to
the Sense; and then begins the next Line in the same manner, which has
a wonderful Effect.
"Now at their shady Lodge arriv'd, _both stopt_,
_Both turn'd_, and under open Sky ador'd
The God who made, _&c._
This artful Manner of writing makes the Reader see them _Stop_ and
_Turn_ to worship God before they went into their Bower. If this
Manner was alter'd, much of the Effect of the Painting would be lost.
"And now arriving at their shady Lodge
_Both stopt, both turn'd_, and under open Sky
Ador'd the God, _&c._
This falls very short of the Original. So in _Latin_,
"_Jamq; domûs ventum est umbrosæ ad limina_: sistunt
Ambo, ambo vertunt, & _aperto numen adorant
Sub Coelo._--
Alter these Lines, thus,
"_Et nunc Arborei ventum est ad limina tecti_;
Sistunt Ambo, Ambo vertunt, & _numen Adorant
Sub Coelo._--
There is here just the same Difference in the _Latin_ as in the
_English_.
I cannot omit two other Instances of _Milton_'s wonderful Art in the
Collocation of Words, by which the Thoughts are exceedingly
heighten'd.
"Under his forming Hands a Creature grew
Manlike, but different Sex, so lovely fair,
That what seem'd fair in all the World, seem'd now
_Mean_, or in her summ'd up.--
What a Force has that Word _mean_, as it is plac'd!
Again,
"I turn'd my Thoughts, and with capacious Mind
Considered all Things visible in Heav'n,
Or Earth, or Middle, all Things fair and good;
But all that Fair and Good, in thy Divine
_Semblance_, and in thy Beauty's heav'nly Ray
United I beheld--
I presume there is no other Language in which Perfection equal to this
is to be found: And I could give many more Instances of the same kind
out of the _Paradise Lost_.
VII. The seventh Particular in _Virgil_ was his _Varying the Common
Pronunciation_, in which _Milton_ has imitated him in several Places;
the following is one Instance.
"--Thus to his Son au--[=di]--bly spake.
For so it must be read, and not after the common manner.
Again,
"Hoarse Murmur eccho'd to his Words Applause
Thro' the in--[=fi]--nite Host--
And the like in many other Places.
VIII. _His Verses contrary to the Common Measure._ The following is an
Example of this kind.
"Drove headlong down to the Bottomless Pit.--
Those who may be apt to find fault with such Arts as these (for Arts
they are in _Virgil_ and _Milton_) little think what it is to write 10
or 12 thousand Lines, and to vary the Sound of them in such manner as
to entertain the Ear from the Beginning to the End of the Work.